Charles Leclerc ends Friday’s FP2 at Circuit of The Americas fastest, narrowly ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, as teams sharpen setups for the United States Grand Prix.

The session starts at 4:00pm local under bright Texas skies, Ferrari building on encouraging FP1 pace after Leclerc edged Verstappen in the earlier session.

Pierre Gasly leads the field out. Verstappen sets the first meaningful benchmark, a 1m36.581 on mediums, as Red Bull splits programmes to map tyre behaviour and balance changes.

Isack Hadjar fights a visor issue on his opening laps, then reports heavy degradation. Sergio Perez returns after his FP1 Cadillac outing, replacing Colton Herta for Red Bull duties.

Lewis Hamilton’s hard-tyre opener is competitive yet seven-tenths down, and his best lap is deleted for track limits. George Russell briefly heads Lando Norris before Verstappen restores order.

Russell draws scrutiny for allegedly forcing Leclerc off, but stewards clear him after issuing an earlier warning. The incident underlines strict policing of limits and racing conduct at Austin.

The field switches to softs for qualifying simulations. Leclerc unlocks Ferrari’s one‑lap peak for 1:35.291, while Russell and Hadjar lose times to limits, as detailed in the FP2 report.

Antonelli delivers again, 0.042s shy, signalling Mercedes has switched on low-fuel balance. Verstappen slots third with consistent baseline, less hooked up on the softs than earlier mediums.

Liam Lawson impresses in sixth. McLaren’s Norris and Oscar Piastri follow but report rear instability and braking inconsistencies. Hadjar and Haas rookie Ollie Bearman complete the top ten.

Behind, Gabriel Bortoleto leads Audi’s effort in 11th, from Gasly, Arvid Lindblad and Esteban Ocon. Franco Colapinto, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg head Bottas and Sainz.

Sergio Perez and Alex Albon complete the order as programs diverge, with several teams prioritising long-run correlation over headline times amid evolving track conditions and gusting winds.

The final 20 minutes shift to long runs, exposing degradation trends. Red Bull gathers tyre-life data after Hadjar’s complaints, while McLaren chases stability. Mercedes shows encouraging race pace.

Headline speed favours Ferrari, but repeat deletions reveal a fragile margin. For deeper context, see our Practice 2 analysis and the full United States GP schedule before Saturday.

FP3 runs at 12:30pm local, with qualifying at 4:00pm, setting the grid after an opening day dominated by pace, precision, and COTA’s unforgiving track limits.

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Daniel Miller

Daniel Miller reports on Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends with race-day analysis, team-radio highlights, and point-standings updates. He explains power-unit upgrades, aerodynamic developments, and driver rivalries in straightforward, SEO-friendly language for a global F1 audience.